EPISODE 1: Debt, a great invention is the first episode of a video lecture by Dirk Bezemer from the University of Groningen. It covers how debt and money sys…

Addicted to debt, moving from one quick fix to the next — this is how the world sees America’s debt ceiling saga. With its craving only temporarily satisfie…
Video Rating: 4 / 5

51 Responses to “DEBT episode 1: Debt, a great invention”

  • Copernicus Miamone:

    I especially enjoyed the last part of the video where he said that without
    debt there would be no innovation and production. My goodness what a load
    of bulltalk. I guess that the crises in Greece is not a crises at all,
    University of Groningen will teach us that the Greek debt to Goldman Sachs
    is actually a great benefit for the Greek people.

    I understand that this guy has no knowledge about history of money and
    economics, probably he has no clue about how the founding fathers of US as
    Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were fighting the English debt-banking
    class. 

  • Antinous Antinoos:

    The economists should even question themselves what “the economy growes”
    means and “if money supply should increase for economy to grow”. Cause I do
    not accept that if there are no loans there is no production. Many things
    you can start producing today even without any money. And I’ve already
    mentioned an example.

  • Joshua Roberts:

    not to confuse the novice but:
    money = physical precious metals like gold and silver
    fiat debt tokens != money

  • Paulo Cruz:

    Then, what’s the matter? I mean, with a country government when it becomes
    indebted for a sum above 120% of its GDP or, for that matter, with a
    company when it owes more than it sells the whole year, whence eventually
    ceasing payments back to its suppliers and workers, who in turn …. Well,
    one has to watch next episodes, which I haven’t yet.

    #economy

    {thanks to +Hanna Wiszniewska {thanks to +Anna Nachesa}} 

  • Mansoor Munir:

    #Debt, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a short #documentary which shows
    that #Money is simply #debt symbols or debt tokens. To watch click here, DEBT
    episode 1: Debt, a great invention

  • Copernicus Miamone:

    So mister professor, the average Dutch house holding have EU largest debt
    and following your talk on the “great invention, debt” Dutch nation
    inhabits very lucky people?

    Let me say it straight Mr. economics professor, you got it all wrong! Debt
    has never and will never serve the interest of the human kind. The only
    class that can earn money from debt is the banking class. Besides this, you
    forgot to mention all about the compound interest. The car loan for your
    Masaratti will cost you at least 6-7% annual rate. Furthermore, where does
    the money to pay the interest come from ? Answer: NOWHERE. You can either
    take another loan to cover this hole or cheat, or steel or take advantage
    of other people. This is what is called plutocracy, the rule of the rich,
    the rule of the banking class.

    I am very disappointed at your “teachings” and your university has nothing
    to learn me. However, this was expected from a main stream university
    situated in a country with largest private debt. 

  • Antinous Antinoos:

    But who needs money anyway? This is 2014. The best operating system was
    created free and is free, it’s called Linux. Both the majority and the most
    important severs are Linux servers. We have the means to provide humanity
    everything they want. We are about to replace even money, with bitcoin. We
    don’t need to convince politicians or economists. We’re going to ignore
    them and just build this money-free future anyway. And then they’ll come
    begging to us for their participation in it.

  • Joshua Roberts:

    Superb. Approach vector to subject matter was optimal.

  • Antinous Antinoos:

    But this video is only meant as an introduction for the real topic he wants
    to talk about, the Dutch real estate bubble and what the Dutch government
    is doing to tackle it (nothing useful indeed) and they should be doing. So
    it’s all about Episode 4 and perhaps that’s why he’s making all those
    simplifications.

  • Antinous Antinoos:

    The professor indeed doesn’t mention the interest. I guess economists,
    since they’re not real scientists, can’t see that the equation loan = loan
    + interest is impossible. If all the money comes from an initial loan where
    does the money for the interest come from? So you take another loan to pay
    the interest and you delay the payment of the interest in the future. But
    that creates more money, so the value of money drops (inflation), then you
    have to borrow again and it goes forever. That explains why the global debt
    is 3 times the global GDP. The debt will never be paid off. And they don’t
    want it to. They prefer as to work forever (as slaves) to pay off a debt
    that will never be paid off. That’s also why bankrupties are inevitable.
    Somebody has to bankrupt in order for the rest to have the money to pay the
    interest. If the whole economy was 4 people who borrowed 1€ each from the
    bank and they had to pay it back with interest, the 3 would pay back to the
    bank 1.20€ each and the 4th guy would be bankrupt, couse he’d be left with
    just 0.40€

  • kanjitard:

    1:01

  • Frank Black:

    Wrong!!! The Pound Sterling was tied to silver at one time. You could take
    your pound note and redeem it for a for a Sterling of silver, which was
    forged from a pound of the same metal, hence its name.. The Sterling was
    about the size of a penny. This goes to show the general myths by so called
    experts about money, it’s history and nature.

  • Griz zuli:

    With a title like that, I am reluctant to watch. Is that title supose to be
    sarcastic or does he really go on trying to convince us that debt is a good
    thing?

  • Edge88100:

    In ancient times debt is created by the parties engaging in a transaction,
    the purpose of issuing this debt is to complete an exchange of something of
    value (carrots vs meat) In modern times debt is created by a third party
    who has an interest in the creation of debt but nothing of value to
    exchange I don’t think this is the same thing !

  • Joeri Schasfoort:

    So if I interpret this correctly a both a unit of account and a store of
    value has to be constant? But if that was the case what than could be
    called money? Carrots?… carrots can quickly lose their value in a season
    of overproduction? Gold, same story gold money suffered from huge inflation
    when the Spanish took ships of it home from south America.

  • Sjaak Swart:

    Nowadays we can create credit (which is used also as ‘common’ money) from
    thin air. And this is where the trust-issue comes in, loads of economists
    keep whining about it, however trust is mainly very important when it comes
    to credit, as for money(which has the features I mentioned earlier) is
    solidified production value. You can create credit, but you can’t create
    production value from thin air. You can get away with pretending for a
    while, but you just can;t fool all the people all the time.

  • phil hales:

    Maybe you should actually read Bezemer’s paper, instead of just looking at
    the title and getting confused.

  • Ismaelrodenbrock:

    That doesn’t sound right, Mr Bezemer. The banks can create debt without any
    limit in your story, while the historic origin of debt was always that debt
    is the result of a concrete service; where the debt has the same value as
    the service. In your story however, the service that creates the debt, is
    just writing down a number in a checkbook by a bank clerk. So, there is a
    gross disbalance between the service and the debt. Writing down a number is
    not worth 200.000 or a Maserati.

  • markw999:

    My views are neither right nor left. And most “right-wingers” would side
    with the idea of fiat currency wholeheartedly. Corporatist/capitalist types
    would. Its helped make them rich. And “detached from reality” is when, even
    though phony monetary systems crash again and again, the only answer is to
    redouble the effort. Tell you what, go ahead and keep using that funny
    money the international bankers print, I’ll keep my stockpile of silver.
    We’ll see how you feel when global bond markets crash.

  • kulomon:

    lol, cash is not money, and there is an interest rate on loans, this video
    is wrong.

  • Sjaak Swart:

    ……but of course a little :) oversimplified. Another example ‘our own’
    dutch guilder wasn’t worth saving anymore since the late 80′s – 90′s, euro
    is even worse, so it does not store your value. That’s why in my opninion,
    it is not money, it is two features short to be that.

  • markw999:

    You’re the one who’s confused. The deer and the carrots in the example in
    this video are commodities. The promise to pay carrots in the future for
    venison today is a debt. A bit of clay signifying the debt is a security
    (securitized debt, we do it to this day). None of this is bad, but its also
    NOT money. And yes, the gold IS the money, which is why when you find that
    coin it STILL HOLDS VALUE! That’s how you know it’s money.

  • Philippe James:

    if it’s fraud why not just outlaw it? Why wait for bank runs to ‘curtail’
    it?

  • Samuel Gallop:

    The only sensible thing you have said in 20 posts. Congratulations ! Now,
    how do you propose to do it without creating unintended consequences ? I’m
    curious !

  • phil hales:

    you’re getting two things mixed up: 1) your anger at the way the world is
    at present, which is completely justified, and 2) your desire to ‘go back’
    to a ‘barter economy’, which is just ridiculous.

  • RT:

    Addicted to debt, moving from one quick fix to the next — this is how the
    world sees America’s debt ceiling saga. With its craving only temporarily
    satisfied, we’re guaranteed to see a rerun of the debt tragicomedy in early
    2014. Is it possible to break the vicious cycle, or is it a question of
    postponing the inevitable? To canvass these issues, RT is joined by ‘Dr
    Doom’ Peter Schiff, an investment broker who predicted the 2008 crisis.

  • Tessa Schlesinger:

    Thank you +Rob Schneider 

  • Derrick Best:

    Grab a cup of tea/coffee and watch this video. 

  • Sergey Kazantsev:

    When liberal pigs promise something on election, it means they will do 2
    times worse, two times more expensive. Fuel for transportation and
    healthcare- is just a visible example. For example, if a liberal shithead
    says: “We need jobs, I will work for jobs” It means, that this liberal
    politician will diminish real jobs in industrial sector and will hire a
    bunch of bureaucrats, who will work hard to punish businesses with
    regulations and these new libs in government offices will be constantly
    looking for a way to tax real job givers in economy to death. So remember,
    when one or another lib politician is talking about jobs- it means he is
    promising to kill even those jobs, that already there with his piggish
    liberal snout meddling there. 

  • BigSilverOne:

    Typical, this stupid bitch doesn’t even know why she , her parents and her
    grandparents are not Nazi slaves.

  • Larry Hecht:

    Strange how Russia is becoming the voice of conservative economics. 

  • Rick Cain:

    Schiff doesn’t want to talk about defense spending because his personal
    political platform is based mainly on a strong national defense. Its a
    typical view of a Jewish person like Peter

  • Lal Gulabi:

    I like how RT make good journalism and talk the truth but however it is
    russian government channel and i would also like to see RT critasise
    russia, russian politians and problem created by russian and other
    countries as well and not just bash western especially US countries. I
    would like to see that preach what they pray.

  • nicolas1999444:

    Peter Schiff is the man!

  • captnhuffy:

    Ha-ha-ha: Like America should take Russia’s advice on defense spending, or
    healthcare for that matter !!!

    *** Listening to RT narrative is a BIG F’n Mistake ***
    (but Schiff is correct) 

  • Amy Joy:

    Schiff is a con man with a shitty track record. Check my channel for the
    facts about Schiff.

  • miguel thecreditor:

    Debt is all there is, there is no money, lawful money that is, they took
    away your estate in 1933, in return the govt. is to discharge all debts
    dollar for dollar, they took all the gold and silver and wearhoused it and
    issued military war script (Fedreal Reserve Notes) our country has been
    under military occupation after the civil war, so all you guys that whine
    about debt, that’s all this economy has had since really 1933 this didn’t
    happen overnight, Peter likes to say to buy precious metals, ok true, but
    understand that the money you use to buy that is more than likely a debt
    instrument, which is owned by the govt. so technically they can confiscate
    your metals because you are using property that is not lawfully yours.

  • bulltraderpt:

    The interviewer needs to put her own views to one side.

  • HudsonKnowsEconomics:

    It’s refreshing to hear someone place blame where it belongs: whining
    american voters who refuse to throw the criminals out of office by voting
    3rd party.

  • Klaus-Dieter Hinck:

    For me one of the great american people left right now who are compromitted
    least. Hope he will go into #thirdparty and take the fight to different
    platforms and change #USpolitcs.

  • Barry Kelly:

    Peter is the KING of analogies! :) 

  • Scott Robinson:

    It’s so funny how Peter Schiff keeps getting it right time after time. But
    folks are still incensed by him and still call him crazy etc… 

  • paul bauer:

    Peter Shiff is the man…..hes rich for a reason because he knows how
    things work.You liberals can call him corrupt or privileged but thats not
    the case…he keeps it real.

  • SpiceBoy7UK23:

    Oksana is one of the best on RT’s team. I love the way she always has ALL
    angles covered. Very intelligent, almost intimidating, good energy. Hope
    you’ll keep your show going lady, good job!

  • Cleber Souza:

    What I liked most is that the reporter made the simple and clarifying
    questioning.

  • Mac Saxe:

    First time we heard the phrase Debtoxification… see what they did there?
    #gold #peterschiff 

  • Bokismoki77:

    we all know why the national debt is so high. bush started so many wars
    that caused recession and handed it to Mr Obama who successfully reduced
    unemployment and raised stock to all time high and helped at the same time
    poor and under-privileged and those with no voice in this new world of
    corporate corruption where big corporations are in bed with politicians
    especially greedy rich republicans and their puppets. God bless

  • jz295491:

    Wow !! I fell in love with OKSANA !! LOL!

  • y2ktube:

    Good for her and good for the Russian people. Great to hear that they’re
    coming around to capitalist principles; for the most part they’re logical
    folks. Peter is a modern day prophet…

  • trajectory@oblivious.wickham” rel=”nofollow”>.…

    thank you!…

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